A ROGUE landlord whose slum properties were some of the “worst ever seen” claimed thousands of pounds in a benefit con.

Joshua Danski pretended tenants were still in the properties after they moved out, claiming the cash from the public purse.

But he was caught when police launched an investigation into his business, Dreamport Properties.

Danski, 32, admitted conspiracy to defraud between 2007 and 2009 when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court.

The court heard how the landlord, who once owned more than 200 properties across the region, mainly let to low income tenants who relied on housing benefit.

If they fell into rent arrears, Danski was entitled to apply for the benefit to be paid directly to him.

But in three cases, the father-of-four carried on claiming benefit after the tenants moved.

He claimed a total of £5,497.20 from Newcastle City Council for houses in Pilgrim Gardens, Atkinson Terrace, and Hampstead Road, all in the city’s West End..

Danski’s company also attempted to make a false claim for a house in Clara Street.

The court heard a tenant had moved into the house - but stayed only for three days, because it had no electricity, water or gas.

But weeks later, the council received a fax purporting to be from the tenant saying he had changed his mind and still lived there. They then received a request for benefit from Dreamport Properties.

Defending, Jonathon Goldberg QC said Danski, a devout Orthodox Jew who attends synagogue several times a day, had been a victim of his own success.

“The company had over 200 properties,” he said. “The business had grown too fast and there weren’t proper managerial controls in place.”

He said Danski, formerly of Whitehall Road, Bensham, Gateshead, had not actively lied to the council to claim the benefit, but neglected to tell them the tenants had moved out.

Mr Goldberg added: “His business is now in administration. The mortgages for the properties were with the Co-pperative Bank, at one stage he was borrowing over £1m. When he was arrested he got a lot of bad publicity. The bank came to hear of this and they have a policy of ethical lending. They called in his mortgages in December 2010, and that was the end of the business.

“He has really lost everything in financial terms. He is living on the charity of his father-in-law in Manchester.”

Judge Michael Cartlidge sentenced Danski to 240 hours of unpaid work. He also scheduled a Proceeds of Crime Hearing to see if cash can be reclaimed.

Last year, a closure order was placed on eight of Danski’s flats in Back Street, Winlaton, Gateshead, after police and council investigations revealed tenants were living in slum conditions.

Peter Thompson of Gateshead Council said at the time: “This is one of the worst cases we have seen. We have rarely seen such poor property management and we find it almost unbelievable a landlord can allow his property to deteriorate into such an unsafe condition.”

Danski also featured in a BBC Panorama documentary about rogue landlords.